Electrical water-heating unit



Nov. 8, 1927.

M. NEREW ELECTRICAL WATER HEATING UNIT Original Filed June 11, 1925 MOIZNE Nsiaew %7W%.

Patented Nov. 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOBNE NEREW, F HAYDEN, ARIZONA, ASSIGNOR TO A. M. WERNER, OI HAYDEN,

ARIZONA.

ELECTRICAL WATER-HEATING UNIT.

Application filed June 11, 1925, Serial No. 36,479. Renewed December 18, 1926.

My invention relates to electrical heating units particularly adapted, although not necessarily. for use in water heaters, and a purpose of my invention is the provision of an electrical Water heating unit which is manually adjustable tocontrol the flow of current through the unit. and which is auto matically adjustable to compensate for the decrease in resistance as oflered by the water between the electrodes of the unit as a result of the separation of the minerals contained in the water, and in such manner that the current flow between the electrodes after such manual adjustment has been made is maintained constant.

I will describe only one form of electrical water heating units embodying my invention and Will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a view showing in vertical section and partly in elevation one form of electrical water heating unit embodying my invention in applied position with respect to the tank of the water heater.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Referring specifically to the drawings in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the views, my invention in its present embodiment is shown as applied to the tank T of a water heater, the bottom wall of such tank having secured to the under side thereof a plate 16 of insulated material. Extending upwardly through and rearwardly fitted in plate 16 is a reduced extension 17 of a bearing sleeve 18, a shaft 19 being rotatable in the sleeve with its opposite ends projecting from the sleeve. The upper end of the shaft 19 is provided with a pinion 20 which constantly meshes with a rack bar 21 slidable in a yoke 22 of the sleeve 18. The lower end of the shaft is provided with a knurled head 23 by which the shaft can be manually rotated to move the rack bar horizontally in one direction or the other. A bracket 21 is secured to one end of the rack bar 21 through screws 25, the bracket serving to support a carbon electrode 26 in upright position upon one end of the rack bar.

Extending upwardly through the plate 16 is a binding post 27 formed at its upper end with a head 28 to which is secured by means of screws 29 the lower end of a thermostat 30, the latter being conventional in that it 15 made up of a plurality of strips of metal having different coeflicients of expansion. Secured to the thermostat 30 is a carbon electrode 81 which is adapted to cooperate within electrode 26 in providing a gap between which current is adapted to flow forheating the water in the tank.

Current is adapted to be supplied to the electrode 26 through the medium of a conductor 32 connected to a conducting cap 83 threaded on the lower end of the extension 17. It is to be noted that the construction of the cap 33 is such as to completely house the knurled nut 23 and to provide a water ti ht oint between the plate 16 and the extension 17. As the sleeve 18 of the shaft 19 is formed of conducting material, current from the conductor 32 will flow upwardly through the conducting yoke 22 and from the latter through a conductor 34 connected to the electrode 26. IVith the electrodes 26 and 31 immersed in the water in the tank. current Wlll flow from the electrode 26 through the gap between the electrodes to the electrode 31 and from the latter downwardly through the thermostat and binding post to a conductor 35.

In practice, the gap between the electrodes can be manually varied by an adjustment of the electrode 26 through manipulation of the shaft 19, and for the purpose of varying the amount of current flowing between the electrodes, it being understood that as the gap is increased the body of water between the electrodes is correspondingly increased to increase the resistance and hence retard the flow of current between the electrodes. In this manner the rate of heating the water in the tank can be controlled at will. In order to prevent the two electrodes from commg into actual contact with each other a head 36 of insulating material is carried by the electrode 26 so as to be interposed between the two electrodes. as clearly shown in Figure 1.

After the desired adjustment of the electrode 26 has been efi'ected, and current is supplied to such electrode, the water in the tank is heated by the flow of current between the electrodes, and with heating of the water the flow of current automatically increases due to the fact that the heating of the water separates the minerals therein thereby reducing its resistance to the flow of such increase by a lateral flexing to move the electrode 31 away from the electrode 26 thereby increasing the gap between the two and of necessity increasin the resistance to the passage of current su ciently to reduce the current 'to the normal rate of flow as previously determined by adjustment of the electrode 26.

From the foregoing description it will be manifest that after the heating unit has been once adjusted'to effect a predetermined. rate of flow of current between the electrodes that the reduced resistance as offered by the heated water would beinefi'ective to change such rate of flow so hat the current flow is at all times constant.

Although I have herein shown and described onl one form of electrical water heating unit embodying my invention, it

is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An electrical water heatin unit comprising a pair of spaced electr es, one supported formanual adjustment to vary the distance between the two. and a thermostat for supporting the other electrode in a manner to vary the distance between the two the sleeve, a rac bar supported for sliding.

movement on the sleeve, an operative connection between the rack. bar and shaft whereby the rack bar is moved in one direction or the other according as the shaft is rotated in one direction or the other, an electrode carried by said bar, and a second electrode supported in spaced relation to the first electrode so that by an adjustment of the bar, the first electrode will be moved to increase or decrease the space between the two electrodes.

4. An electrical water heating unit as embodied in claim 3 wherein a thermostat supports the second electrode in the manner and for the purpose described.

5. An electrical water heating unit as embodied in claim 3 wherein said sleeve hearing is provided with a threaded extension,

:a plate of insulated material threaded on the extension, said shaft projecting through and beyond the extension and provided with a head, and a conducting yoke threaded on the extension and inclosing said head.

MORNE NEREW. 

